Why
villains are better: We love to see them get their final comeuppance.

Why
they aren’t: Even when we love them, they never get a happy ending.

1

Why
villains are better: Identifying with a hero or heroine is easy.

Why
they aren’t: Identifying with a hero or heroine is easy.

***

Meet Hamish LaRue, a villain
who is—and is not—better than the hero and heroine of La Déesse Noire: The Black Goddess.

Kali sat quietly before the battered desk, refusing to shiver in the
wind blowing through cracks in the walls of the rundown wooden shack. No longer
did she meet Mr. Hamish LaRue in his fine office at 17 Bonhill Street. Now, she
was only invited to this rickety hovel near the docks, half-hidden between a
public house and a livery, where he conducted business with anyone less
important than he believed himself to be.

Before the first time summoned here, she had never minded the smell of
whiskey and horses on a man, but now, the combination made her nauseous. When
mingled with the cheap cologne LaRue wore to cover his pungent bodily aroma, it
was all Kali could do not to add the smell of the bile in her throat to his
shoes. She refused to shudder at the lecherous look he always wore in their
meetings, refused to acknowledge the evidence of his constant arousal when she
was near, nor the way he occasionally palmed his erection, as though to give
himself relief he was barred from taking with her.

She felt gooseflesh rise on her arms and assumed her nipples had
hardened underneath her green wool dress, because the rodent-on-two-legs
couldn’t keep his bulging eyes from her breasts, tongue lapping at his lower
lip, nostrils flaring as her cinnamon-and-sandalwood scent reached his nose.
The first time she had come here, she’d thought him polite, taking her pelisse
and hanging it neatly, but now she knew he only hoped for a good view and to
keep her as uncomfortable as he could manage.

She would in no way give him the satisfaction of knowing she was cold,
though her lips were probably as blue as the manicured fingernails on her soft
hands, kept smooth by regular application of expensive unguents. His eyes
followed her frozen mouth, giving her cause to wonder if he were the type of
man who might molest a corpse, if provided the opportunity. Surely he would
have no scruples about such wickedness, given she had seen no evidence of
common decency in the ten years she had known him.

Sired by a British peer, born of a
paramour to Indian royalty, Kali Matai has been destined from birth to enthrall
England’s most powerful noblemen—though she hadn’t counted on becoming their
pawn. Finding herself under the control of ruthless men, who will not be moved
by her legendary allure, she has no choice but to use her beauty toward their
malicious and clandestine ends.

When those she holds most dear are
placed in peril by backroom political dealings, she enlists some of the most
formidable lords in England to thwart her enemies. But even with the help of
the prominent gentlemen she has captivated, securing Kali’s freedom, her
family, and the man she loves, will require her protectors stop at nothing to
fulfill her desires.

Author
Bio

Mariana Gabrielle is a pseudonym
of Mari Christie, a professional writer, editor, and designer with almost
twenty-five years’ experience. Published in dozens of nonfiction and poetry
periodicals since 1989, she began writing mainstream historical fiction in 2009
and Regency romance in 2013. In all genres, she creates deeply scarred
characters in uncommon circumstances who overcome self-imposed barriers to
reach their full potential. She is a member of the Bluestocking Belles, the
Writing Wenches, and the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. Her first Regency
romance, Royal Regard, was released in November 2014.

I love to write romances - fantasy, paranormal, time travels, and Regency; for adults and YA. I don't want to get boxed in by genre -- I might be claustrophobic!
I'm also a freelance editor and an editor at MuseItUp Publishing. Additionally, I am also a ghostwriter.
When I'm not writing about girls wanting to be knights, talking unicorns, or zombies, I love spending time with my loving and growing family. I enjoy riding horses (pretending they're unicorns, of course!) and going to the PA Renaissance Faire, dressed in garb.
Nicole.Zoltack@gmail.com is my email. Feel free to contact me!